Allotments get addictive

It’s worrying how much time we are finding we can spend on the plot. At least in the summer we could kid ourselves that we were busy doing ‘real’ things: digging, watering, weeding, harvesting.

Now, as October wanes, and all but one variety of onion sets are in the ground, there’s no digging, very little watering, minimal weeding and only sporadic harvesting left to do (note to self – next year, plant more late season cropping stuff!) and yet we still seem to be able to spend three or four hours up there on both Saturday and Sunday and also a snatched half-hour before dark on a weekday evening.

What exactly are we doing in that time? Well one thing is that we’re putting up the fence and painting the shed, cutting the ‘meadow’ which has been a bit of fallow land this year, and now needs to be cut with shears for winter stubble. And mainly, every time the sun shines, we’re heading up there to soak up the rays and just relax, footling around with watering cans and hoes but really, just enjoying ourselves.

And of course, the overwintering broad beans go in soon, and the last of the spring cabbage, and then it’s time to dig in the expired beans from this year to enrich next year’s potato bed … perhaps we’ve earned a bit of idleness in the sun?

And the picture shows yours truly getting her kit off on the plot!

Labels: allotment-broad-beans, allotment-meadow, allotment-spring-cabbage